Alpha Sigma Phi - Colony at Montclair State

Colony at Montclair State

They were told they were too young.

They were told they were in over their heads.

They were told to stop trying.

But the men at Montclair State University didn’t give up or quit. Instead, they remained focused on their goal to become a colony of Alpha Sigma Phi. They succeeded and now are on a path to being chartered.

News of a new colony or chapter being started is joyful. But frequently, the trials of becoming part of Alpha Sigma Phi aren’t limited to coalescing the right group of men to become brothers.

Often men are discouraged, chastised, and at times, harassed, on their way to forming a unique fraternity offering at their schools. When they succeed, it is a testament to their vision, determination and belief in the Values of Alpha Sigma Phi.

“The reason I decided to start this chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi was that I had a group of really close friends who wanted to join a fraternity but nothing on campus had our values,” says Ryan Preidel. “I have always looked up to my brother Aaron, ’09, who is an Alpha Sig in the Epsilon Kappa Chapter at Albright College. I want to be in the same fraternity.”

The men at Montclair State follow a lineage of Alpha Sigs overcoming significant obstacles to survive and thrive – even from the time of our founding.

“We talk about Louis Manigault, Stephen Ormsby Rhea, and Horace Spangler Weiser and how they started Alpha Sigma Phi,” says Matt Humberger, Bowling Green ’03, the Fraternity’s director of expansion and growth, “but we don’t talk much about their struggles.”

Fraternities at Yale College in 1845 were academic-class based secret societies. Alpha Sigma Phi was founded as a rival sophomore society and it took more than six months of covert planning and recruiting to announce our Alpha Chapter’s initial members. Historical accounts suggest that the college was not supportive of fraternities and that an intense rivalry with the other sophomore society ensued. With introduction of The Tomahawk in 1847, other controversies ensued that led to Alpha Sigma Phi’s official expulsion from Yale. Yet, the Fraternity continued operating on campus using the name Delta Beta Xi, which itself was eventually disbanded because of faculty and administration dislike.

The men of our Montclair State colony found that, just like at Yale, new fraternities are not always welcomed.

“When Ryan approached us, we encouraged him to meet with the university’s Greek Advisor and to get his friends interested in starting a group,” Humberger says. “Ryan did all that we asked of him and though they were as selective as any group I’ve worked with, they were able to recruit 20 high quality men in a short period of time.”

Then their efforts were derailed.

Already having earned colony status by Alpha Sigma Phi, the group applied to the school’s Greek Council (Montclair’s version of an Interfraternity Council) for official recognition. Their opportunity to make a presentation to the Greek Council was postponed. Then tabled. Then denied. Twice.

Initially, it seems, Alpha Sigma Phi was not a welcome presence at Montclair.

Grand Senior President Rich Ritter, Toledo ’91 and Ohio Wesleyan ’93, remembers feeling the same way as an undergraduate.

“In 1992 when a group of us at Ohio Wesleyan approached the dean of student services with a petition to re-start Epsilon Chapter (which had closed in 1971) he told us that he did not understand why we were in his office as it was clear the university did not want any more fraternities,” Ritter recalls. “In his written response rejecting our request, he instructed us that our options were to block rush another fraternity, exist as a philanthropic club such as Sierra Club, or to disband. Those were choices we did not want to accept.”

The men forming Epsilon Chapter faced this adversity headon by furthering their commitment to the values of Alpha Sigma Phi.

“Ultimately, I believe the way we reacted to the situation forged the character of the chapter in an incredibly positive manner that serves it well to this day,” says Ritter.

The men at Montclair State have faced a similar negative reaction from administration.

“Our men were ordered by the the Greek Council advisor to stop trying to be recognized and to cease all activity or face disciplinary action,” says Humberger. “The Greek Council was encouraged to vote no and was even praised for ignoring their national organizations, all of which requested their members to approve the recognition of Alpha Sigma Phi.”

Alpha Sigma Phi complies with the National Interfraternity Conference (NIC) standards that supports open expansion as a way to invigorate a Greek community and push all groups to become better. Often, existing fraternity chapters see a new fraternity as a threat.

Drew Thawley, Ohio Wesleyan ’94, and current president and CEO of Alpha Sigma Phi Educational Foundation, lived that perception of threat as a young member of newly re-chartered Epsilon Chapter at Ohio Wesleyan during the early 1990s.

“Soon after being pledged to Alpha Sig, one of the older brothers told me to be careful if I chose to wear my letters on a sweatshirt as I walked across campus,” Thawley says. “I was advised to consider always walking with a buddy when wearing our letters, because if I were alone, I may get jumped by a member of another fraternity.

“That was all I needed to understand that the other fraternities on campus were scared of us. They were willing to spend energy trying to hurt Alpha Sigma Phi instead of taking that energy and investing it in being better than us. I knew then that I had made the right choice.”

Even though Epsilon Chapter had received its charter from Alpha Sigma Phi, the administration and IFC at Ohio Wesleyan refused to recognize Alpha Sigma Phi. But the men persevered, reserving rooms and signing up for intramural sports under the name “Phoenix Society” or other names that had relevance to brothers, but was not apparent to others.

“I became the chapter’s third president and served two terms from 1995 to 1997,” Thawley says. “During those years, we kept our grades high to impress the faculty. We treated women with the utmost respect in order to gain a positive reputation with the sororities. We never hazed. We never spoke negatively about other fraternities because we knew there was a greater good. I made friends with every other chapter president and IFC officer. And we recruited year-round, which IFC members were prohibited from doing. We took full advantage of having to live by few rules. This made the IFC envious at first, and angry later, which we had to overcome.”

The Epsilon Chapter men tried for recognition again in 1995 and were turned-down. Repeatedly.

“We even got women on campus to start pressuring their boyfriends and friends who were in other fraternities to agree to recognize us,” says Thawley. “That didn’t work either. Then we had an opportunity to make friends with the university president.”

It was after befriending the president that Alpha Sigma Phi was officially welcomed back on the Ohio Wesleyan campus – on its sixth try.

Today, Alpha Sigma Phi is widely recognized as the Ohio Wesleyan’s premier fraternity and has been received numerous campus and national Fraternity awards for excellence.

“Perhaps healthy adversity is what binds us together,” Thawley muses. “Nonetheless, the lessons learned in those years have been tremendously valuable.”

While the final chapter has not been written for our colony at Montclair State, the men there only have to look at Alpha Sigma Phi’s history of facing adversity, maintaining the high standards of our Values, and staying focused on their ultimate goal. “I am just really proud of our colony and how the men have handled themselves maturely and professionally, even when they don’t always get the same in return,” says Tom Reynolds, NJIT ’03, Grand Colony Adviser for Montclair State. “I’m proud to be associated with them and I am confident that we will soon be a thriving, successful chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi, fully embraced by the Montclair family.”

Causa Latet Vis Est Notissima.

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